Carla's Conundrum
by Aerdrrow
Summary: It's been two months since the Supernova crisis, Carla and Keith have transferred their deep-science living pod to Kaamo, via Rhino-Rentals. They're currently living happily, running one of the most popular (and safest) stations in the galaxy. Carla has just returned from a check-up in the wolf-raiser system, carrying some big news. But Keith has left to do a Loma run! Please R&R
1. Prologue

**This is a revamped version of Carla's Conundrum. Chapters will be longer, so there will be more to read. Leave a review, or PM me if you have any ideas you would like to see in future chapters.**

* * *

"Here we are, Dr. Paolini, Kaamo Station. The place you call _home_," Stated the Grey, Khador, in that monotoned voice all members of his species use. He had reduced his Vol Noor ship's thrusters significantly once they were in the secure orbit of the station, and the tractor beam of the hangar was safely guiding them to an empty dock.

"Khador, please, for the last time, call me Carla. Besides, I have a feeling that I won't be a Paolini for much longer, especially after I tell Keith about _this_." Carla told the Grey, rubbing her stomach. "Oh, and thanks again for giving me a lift to and from Thynome while Betty is in surgery." She continued, as she got out of the passenger seat, and left the cockpit. Khador walked with the Terran as she made her way past the Space-Lounge, to the Residential Pods near the top of the station.

"I really do not understand why you do not pilot a craft more suited to your abilities, Dr. Paolini," Khador said, not seeming to notice Carla's request. Carla sighed, Greys could be so _stubborn _sometimes. At least they were intelligent... Actually that's an understatement, seeing as how Grey's were the very first species to successfully attempt long distance space travel.

"I've told you before Khador, Betty was Keith's first ship, after he came to this era that is." Carla reminded her best friend, as they reached the Penthouse Pod. She hugged him goodbye, but he just stood there, stiff as armour plating. The Grey discouraged physical contact, but Carla didn't care. "I'll see you later, Khador," she said, after letting him go, "You take care now." The Terran told the Grey.

"Same to you, Dr. Paolini," responded Khador, before turning around and leaving Carla, as she entered the Pod.

"Keith! I'm home!" Carla announced, taking off her boots and heading to the kitchen for something to eat. "Sweetie?" She called again, plunging her spork into a can of basic food labeled '_CHOCOLATE PUDDING_'. Then she noticed the note on the counter, from her boyfriend. Carla set the can down and read the note:

"_Carla,_

_I'm sorry that I couldn't be here to greet you when you got home. However, Loma contacted me, saying that they were in desperate need of Buskat. They told me that they would pay double if I could deliver today. I will be back in two days time at most._

_I love you,_

_Keith_"

Carla put the note back down on the counter, and picked up her can of pudding. "Oh, Keith!" She sighed, as she put another sporkful of pudding in her mouth.

* * *

"Welcome to Loma! If you want it, we proba- OH! Mr. Maxwell! We are so grateful that you could help us out, in these difficult times. You _do _have the shipment?" The Loma Pirate-boss, Laurence, said.

"Yes, yes. Of course I do, twenty tonnes of the finest Buskat in the Galaxy. Just like you ordered." Keith responded, being careful what he said. The Pirate-boss of the Loma system, Laurence, had a _very _short fuse, and Keith T. Maxwell didn't want to get on his bad side. Especially not before the credits had been transferred.

"That is good, Mr. Maxwell. Very good. Once you dock, your credits will be transferred, _double _the usual Loma price for Buskat. You are a reliable partner, when dealing with difficult tasks," the Pirate promised, as he and the rest of his band escorted Keith to the Sao Perula Station. Once Keith and Laurence were were within docking distance, the rest of the pirates scattered so they wouldn't be caught in the tractor-beam.

Inside the Station, Keith unloaded the Buskat, and signed the holopad. He heard the long beeb from the pad when he was done, signalling the Credit transfer. "Might I ask why the big request so suddenly?" Keith inquired.

"I think I might be able to shed some light on that, Maxwell," said a voice, coming from the direction of the Sao Peula Space-Lounge.

"Ah, if it isn't the notorious Mkkt Bkkt. How are you old friend?"

"Notorious? You flatter me Maxwell, and tell me how we are suddenly 'friends'?"

"Well Mkkt, we know each other well enough to no longer be acquaintances. What would you say we are to each other?"

"Hmmm, yes. I guess that old friends would be the most accurate description of our relationship. However, you mentioned that you wanted to know why all the Buskat, did you not?"

"Yes, that's right, I am quite curious. Is there somewhere we could talk?"

Mkkt Bkkt glanced around the hangar, before leaning in close to Keith and whispering in his ear, "Meet me on the third floor in five minutes, and don't be late...or early," then the Octopod leaned back so that he was once again standing up straight. "Well, 'old friend', it was nice seeing you! Thanks for the Buskat, too! Take care!" With that, the drug dealer headed off towards the elevators.

"Five minutes? That gives me enough time to check out what drinks this slum has." Keith said to himself, heading to the Space-Lounge.

* * *

**All listed characters and ships can be found on the Galaxy on Fire Wikia.**

**CHARACTERS:  
****Carla Paolini  
****Khador  
****Keith T. Maxwell  
****Mkkt Bkkt**

**SHIPS:  
****Vol Noor  
****Betty  
****Rhino**


	2. Chapter 1

**I hope you guys enjoyed the Prologue, because now the story _really _takes off! At the end of each chapter, I will restate any and all new characters and/or ships.**

* * *

Walking into the Space-Lounge, everyone gleefully acknowledged the VIP. Carla headed over to the counter, "Glass of drinking water please, Tr'iish." She ordered from her and Keith's star employee, a sexy Terran-Vossk hybrid. Her parents had a forbidden love, with her father being a Terran scientist and her mother being a Vossk High Priestess. Not only were they forced out of both Terran and Vossk space, but they were also banned from ever returning. So once Keith bought Kaamo from Mkkt Bkkt, he offered them and their daughter, Tr'iish, permanent sanctuary. In return, the three of them showed their gratitude by working the Kaamo Space-Lounge, Tr'iish's father Mike in the kitchen, her mother Merrkt bartending, and herself running tables.

At the moment though, Tr'iish was on her break. "You'nt havin' your usual, Dr.?" As she handed over the water.

"Not today, Keith did it again: He left on a Loma run, without even _telling_ me about it first!" Carla explained through the liquid. Setting the water down, she crossed her arms on the counter and laid her head down on them, staring blatantly at her glass. After a moment, she glanced up at the young hybrid, "Anyway, how have you been? How old are you now?"

Sitting down next to her 'boss', Tr'iish took a sip of her own water, "I am sixteen last week, thanks for asking. I have been babysitting these kids from a Midorian family, on the third floor during the weekends, while their parents are off-station." Tr'iish leant closer to Carla, and whispered, "But to be honest, their older brother is the real reason I go every weekend. His name is Alexander, and he is my age, and..." Tr'iish trialed off, causing Carla to raise an eyebrow as her employee stared off in lost thought, "I mean he is _so_ cute, and more importantly: he accepts me the way I am."

Carla sat up straight, "Miss Smith," she started, in a gossip-like curious tone, "Do you have a crush on this boy?" Tr'iish blushed, which was an unique sight to behold. Her blue skinned cheeks turned cherry red. Carla gasped with pleasant surprise, "You _do_! You're turning red!" Tr'iish tried to hide behind her shoulder-length purple hair, but Carla could read her like a holobook. "Tr'iish, you should totally ask him out, because if he is cute like you say he is, then it is only a matter of time before another girl gets to him." Tr'iish's two eyes went wide when Carla said this. Eyes she got from her father, Mike.

"What?! Are you joking Carla?" She asked rhetorically. "I can't do that, I mean, what if he doesn't like me back?" Tr'iish added sheepishly, brushing her locks behind one of her elf-like ears with a six-fingered hand. "He's from the Terran race of the Midorians, so he probably only likes Terran girls."

Carla was getting pleasantly frustrated, "That's it, I am getting you off work early. It's Friday today, and you have some babysitting to do."

* * *

Keith walked off the lift, onto the third floor, and spotted Mkkt Bkkt within seconds. As he walked over to Mkkt, Keith thought about what the Multipod was going to tell him. Keith kept his cool as he asked, "So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Mkkt looked around, as if someone might be listening. "Not out here Mr. Maxwell. Follow me." The dealer led Keith into a room about the size of a small ship's bridge. In the center of the room was a table, and, sitting around it were some familiar faces.

"Glad you could join us, Keith." Nodded Admiral Brent Snocom, with a young blonde girl standing behind him, "We have something important to discuss."

"That'ssss rrright," slurred Thadellonius Moonsprocket, clearly drunk as per usual. Keith and Mkkt sat down in the only empty seats left. The others at the table were Moonsprocket's best friend and assistant, Brillo Lampeter, one of the best fighter pilots of this era Keith had ever met, Thomas Boyle, and a woman Keith didn't recognize. Keith nodded at Thomas, who nodded back, then gestured to the woman Keith hadn't met before.

"As you know," She began, leaning forward and raising her fingerlocked hands to her mouth, "The Terran race had its first officially recorded contact with other forms of intelligent intergalactic beings sometime around 800 years ago. Back then, our race was not as _curious _as we are now...No, they were scared of what they didn't understand and reacted with hostile force, when faced with anything that fit that criteria. So when the Nivellian and Vossk races first entered our ancestors' home solar system, they did what they did best...They waged war. Being the most passive of the three races, the Nivellians sent ambassadors to both the Terran and the Vossk, before any weapons were used. These ambassadors called for a peace-conference, in the hope of avoiding any casualties. The conference was between the current leaders of the three races, whose names have been long since forgotten,

"No one really knows what happened during that peace-conference, only that tensions grew between the Vossk and Terran races. The conference ended up being in vain, as war was ultimately declared between the Terrans and the Vossks. This war quickly spread across the stars, across the systems, to the edges of the Milky Way. A war that some say is still being fought to this day; a war that is the result of any and all tensions the two races still have. During the course of this war, the Terran homeworld, Earth, was lost. However, there have been whispers, throughout the ages. Rumors and tales, myths and legends, about this lost planet...This, Utopia. The stories say that there was a proud and intelligent group, who dreamt of one day returning to this wondrous world. They say that this group left clues, all throughout the galaxy, that would lead back to Earth. They say that this group is identified by wearing full body clothes, covered in scales of immense awe. They call themselves '_The Guardians of Utopia_'_._"

* * *

Carla rapped her knuckles on the door a few times, and waited for the response. It came quickly, with the sound of young voices squealing with excitement. "Tr'iish's here! Tr'iish's here!" Seconds later the door whooshed open to reveal two young identical twins, about 6 years of age. For a moment, they just stood there looking up at Carla in confusion. Then they noticed their babysitter, standing behind this stranger, and rushed happily into her with a result of the three of them falling to the floor. Giggling, Tr'iish sat up with her arms around the twins.

"Xan! Jan! Calm down before someone gets hurt!" A voice called out from inside the Pod. Carla turned her head to see who the voice belonged to, and saw a young man about 16 walk to the Pod's doorway. He noticed Carla and scratched his short brown hair. "Oh, um, hello Dr. Paolini. What brings you to our Pod?"

"Actually, I am just here with Tr'iish," Carla responded, "She has something she would like to ask you." Tr'iish immediately turned red. She stood up and cleared her throat.

"Yes, um, well you see Alex," She started, then looked to Carla, who nodded encouragingly, "Carla's boyfriend Keith left on a delivery without telling her and now she is upset because she hasn't seen him in a few days and now she wants to give him a piece of her mind so I was wondering if maybe you could do me a favour and maybe just possibly give us a lift to go see him?" Tr'iish explained in a run on sentence, without stopping for a breath once. Gasping she looked hopefully at a startled Alex.

"Uhm, sure. I guess I could give you a ride," He said, still a little taken aback, "But I'm just curious, why don't you take your own ship?"

"She's getting repairs done, so I am currently without a ship." Carla said, clearly disappointed in Tr'iish.

"Yay! We're going for a ride!" The twins cheered in unison. Alex grabbed his keys, and the five of them headed down to the hangar.

On the way down, Carla held the twins' hands. Tr'iish and Alex walked side-by-side having a conversation indistinct to Carla. "So you own this big space station, Miss Carla?" Jan asked innocently.

"That's right, I own this place with my boyfriend, Keith." Carla responded in a sweet voice.

"That is so cool!" Said Xan, a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah. It sure is." Smiled Carla.

Inside Alex's ship, a green Razor 6, everyone took their seats. Alex in the pilot's seat, Tr'iish sitting next to him in the copilot's, Carla and the twins in the three seater passenger seat. As the ship left the station, Alex asked looking back at Carla, "So, which system are we headed to?"

With her hands rested comfortably in her lap, Carla responded, "Loma, please. Since it was a commodity run, that would most likely be the Sao Perula station." Alex pulled the engines to a complete stop, and whirled around to face her.

"LOMA?!" Clearly not expecting that answer, "The _pirate-run _system? You expect me to take my kid siblings and two female passengers to the _Loma _system?"

"Yes, if you would please," Carla said matter-of-factly, "And if it makes you feel any better, I plan on paying for any and all fees, and if needed, damage repairs."

"Oh, well that makes _everything_ all better," Alex said, sarcastically as he pushed the engines back up to 100% thrust. Carla heard him mumbling something about how he was only doing this because Tr'iish asked him too, and she smiled to herself. Alex put on some music, as he headed for the Kaamo Jumpgate.

* * *

After she finished talking, Keith T. Maxwell got up and started pacing. All eyes were on him, waiting for a response-any response. After a moment, he stopped pacing and said, "So...That is a very good story and all, but that still doesn't explain why the sudden large order for Buskat," Keith turned toward the table, "Or why there are Terran officials in meeting in secret in the Loma system. I don't even know who you are, pretty lady." Without a word, she unzipped her jacket, revealing a Terran orange tanktop underneath, and pulled an object wrapped in cloth from the inside of the jacket.

"My name is Captain Emily 'Shark' Dark," the Captain finally introduced herself, zipping her jacket back up, "And the reason why we ordered such a large supply of Buskat, is because of this." Captain Dark tossed the object onto the table. Keith picked it up to examine it. It was about the size of a helmet's visor, and it was heavier than Keith thought it would be. Carefully, he unwrapped it, fold after fold, building suspense for the rest of the room. Then he saw what had been so carefully wrapped. In his hands he held a scale, a large scale that emanated an entrancing swirl of blues. It was almost like the scale had a life of its own.

"What the hell is this?" Keith breathed, not looking away from the artifact.

"That," Captain Dark answered, "Is a scale; it is our first clue. You see, what I told you was not a story of fiction, but a story of cold, hard facts."

"Keith," Snocom spoke up, "We have more than one reason to believe that what you are holding, is a scale from one of the Guardians of Utopia. We believe that it is the first clue that will lead us back to Earth. As we speak there is a fleet-envoy on its way here, comprised of the best of the best in and for every field. There are Botanists, Geologists, forensic scientists, you name it. We plan on re-terraforming and re-colonizing the legacy that our ancestors left to us. Keith T. Maxwell...Will you join us?"

A moment of silence overwhelmed the small room, then slowly, Keith looked up from the scale. He made eye contact with everyone in the room, one by one, ending with Admiral Brent Snocom. A smile crept up on him, "When do we leave?"

"The fleet-envoy will be here tomorrow," the Admiral responded, leaning forward, "We embark on this venture the day after. So you should get your affairs in order."

Keith locked eyes with Brent, and spoke in a soft, serious voice that sent shivers down Brent's spine and made his body hair stand on end. "I don't think that '_affairs_' would be the best term for me, Admiral," Keith put hard emphasis on Brent Snocom's title, in an almost insulting way, "Because what I have with Carla, is something that I cherish...In fact if she can't accompany me on this quest of yours, then you can count me out." By this point, Brent was sweating.

"If you would excuse me here, sir," the young girl standing behind Brent said, "My name is Hayley Snocom-it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr Maxwell-and on behalf of my grandfather here, I sincerely apologize."

* * *

**All listed characters and ships can be found on the Galaxy on Fire Wikia.**

**CHARACTERS:  
Brent Snocom  
Thadellonius Moonsprocket  
Brillo Lampeter  
Thomas Boyle  
Hayley Snocom**

**SHIPS:  
Razor 6**


End file.
